A vuvuzela, sometimes called a “lepatata” (its Setswana name) or a stadium horn, is a blowing horn, approximately one metre in length, commonly blown by fans at football matches in South Africa. They require some lip and lung strength to blow and emit a loud monotone like a foghorn or an elephant.[1] A similar instrument (known as corneta in Brazil and Latin American countries) is used by football (soccer) fans in South America.[citation needed]

Vuvuzelas have been controversial.[2] They have been associated with permanent noise-induced hearing loss[3], a possible safety risk when spectators can’t hear evacuation announcements[4], potentiality spreading colds and flu germs on a greater scale than coughing or shouting[5][6]. Commentators have described the sound as “annoying” and compared it with “a stampede of noisy elephants,”[7] “a deafening swarm of locusts”[8] and “a goat on the way to slaughter”[9].